Santa Ana's trail conditions(Harding/Maple Springs/HJ/Trabuco Rd Update)

Discussion in 'Trail Conditions' started by genusmtbkr5, Dec 26, 2010.

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  1. genusmtbkr5

    genusmtbkr5 STR Moderator

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    Lots of questions about what shape these roads/trails are in after the week or so of storms. I've been reading some of the reports on here and on Geoladders and came up with this list. If anyone has any updates of any of the road or trails, please post up here. Pictures would be a huge help and approximate location of damage on trail so trail work crews know what to expect. If there is already another thread posted, I'll add the link here so you can re-direct there.

    Here is what I have gathered so far:


    Black Star: update here

    Harding:
    Open

    Holy Jim: update and pics here
    Indian TT: Open

    Joplin: Rutted badly at the top about the 1st 1/4 mile of trail. The rest of the trail is fine, but much more exposed rocks than usual. See post # 36 and http://www.socaltrailriders.org/for...in-trailwork-grace-earns-her-pak-7-shirt.html

    Maple Springs: Cleared and Gate open

    San Juan Trail :
    http://www.socaltrailriders.org/for...ail-chiquito-viejo-tie-conditions-merged.html

    STT/Luge:
    Lots of slides on STT. Old Camp blocked off at mile 5, the Luge has slides/debris as well. Jim Jennings already has work scheduled for STT on Jan 2. Check this thread for updates: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/trail-conditions/52487-good-bad-luge.html

    The Silverado Motorway: Check post #66 for latest conditions and worked performed.

    Trabuco Trail:
    Suffered minor damage, mostly rutting and top soil being washed away. Expect a chunkier ride. Lots of blown down trees at the junction on WHT. It's all HAB through there now. See post #47 for pics.

    West Horse Thief: No tread damage. The WS brushed the lower 1/4 mile of trail up to the 5th switchback. Middle section still needs brushing, but we ran out of time. See post #47 for pics
     
  2. MnMDan

    MnMDan Member

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    Maple Springs

    Ran into Maxwell on Maple Springs...its ok to hike and bike but anything motorized isn't going up there for a while. The 1st mile of pavement on Maple Springs apparently acted like the creekbed and has some asphalt peeking through the 3-6" of silt and rock on the path itself, and in some places a foot deep at the edges where the runoff built up its own berm. The lower creek crossings all have some pretty big debris in them that isn't going to be moved by anything less than a bobcat, and makes the line through deep and narrow. Lots of people hiking up it and a few others riding as I was coming down off the top. There's a few sections where road appears to be buried under a few feet of debris, or there are 25-50lb rocks in the middle of the road, or the road is lined with 25-50lb hunks of wood.

    Once you get to the dirt, its all good...some minor erosion at the drainage berms, but nothing that a little time won't cure and makes the road a little more technical. Some more rocks/boulders that have let loose from the hillsides. A few smaller trees that had been fire damaged went down near the top, but about 3/4 mile from the very top, a stand of fire damaged trees came down and splintered across the trail for about 30 yards. Gonna need some heavy equipment to move it. Pretty impressive as there's only about 1/3 the wood crossing the trail...the rest went further down the hillside. I'd say if we have what would usually be a big storm during the winter, a 1"-2" two-day event, combined with the freeze-thaw cycles that'll occur higher up with saturated hillsides...we'll have some more damage, some more rocks, boulders, and trees will go down, but I didn't see anything that would be the telltale sign of a big slide or weakness like cracks or gaps anywhere on or near the road surface.

    Lower Maple Springs just after the gate
    attachment-1.jpg

    attachment-2.jpg

    Lower Maple Springs after the gate and 1st crossing...the road is under a few feet of debris.
    attachment-4.jpg

    Further up the road, between 3rd and 4th water crossing (which was axle-deep on my 29'er), lots o' wood in the road for a hundred yards or so.
    attachment-5.jpg

    Small tree down on upper maple springs.
    attachment.jpg

    The real carnage on Maple Springs...about a dozen large tree carcasses that looked fire-damaged.
    attachment-7.jpg

    Its rideable all the way to the top! Didn't see anyone coming up Harding so I'll scope that out next week.
    attachment-3.jpg

    Someone lost a trailer in Irvine Lake
    attachment-6.jpg



     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 27, 2010
  3. KeepsWhatHappens

    KeepsWhatHappens Warriors Society Member

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    Black Star

    Wow !! Thanks for posting. If Maple Springs is this bad I wonder if people have lost homes in Holy Jim. That last house before the trails starts - wow! If that survived, it must have been a very scary ordeal with all that water.

    Saw this on FB and re-posted ( I didn't take the photo ) . I wasn't there. So I don't know anything else.

    messy blackstar.jpg
     
  4. eiphergott

    eiphergott New Member

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    I went up Trabuco to West Horsethief this morning, and the trail was in pretty good shape, but the road up wasn't. I talked to an engineer who was up there assessing the damage, and he said it would be at least 6 weeks before they get it fixed. The third stream crossing has half the concrete washed out, and part of the road washed out parallel to the creek about 200 yards from the forest boundary.
     
  5. Pain Freak

    Pain Freak Dead or Alive

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    I believe the rider didn't ride it either. Look at his back tire and you'll see the mud doesn't go all the way around.
     
  6. TrailBlaza

    TrailBlaza New Member

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    do you think it is worth trying harding tomorrow?
     
  7. genusmtbkr5

    genusmtbkr5 STR Moderator

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    You can't not drive to the trailhead as heavy equipment is being used and I saw a "road closed" sign at the corner of Modjeska Canyon Rd and Santiago Canyon Rd. Parking at Cook's could be an option, but Modjeska Grade Rd is also blocked off. Not sure if it is to "ALL" traffic including bikes. If you read my post, Harding also has mudslides.
     
  8. M.C. Gong

    M.C. Gong I am the motor

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    Maple Springs

    Sorry for the late report but FWIW I rode Maple Springs on Friday morning and wanted to post this up afterwards, but got really sick after the ride. Been bed ridden all weekend with some stomach virus. Not sure what it could have been...maybe the water from Maple Springs that splashed up in mouth, or the food I picked up on the way home.
    Anyways....the first 3 miles of of the trail on the pavement was a mess. Mud, rocks, and branches were everywhere. You now have to cross about 5 or 6 heavy streams, one was about 1.5ft deep. Once you hit the dirt, everything was ok. There were fallen trees here and there, but nothing you couldn't get around. When I got back to the car, I was drenched from waist down....my fault though because I didn't slow down when I hit the streams coming down. I assume the trail looks similar this morning, but the streams might have dissipated a little.

    Turned out to be a very nice ride. The whole time you could hear water flowing down the mountain which made the ride more enjoyable and relaxing to climb...if that's possible. :)

    photo-2.JPG

    Looking back down at the tree when climbing
    photo-1.jpg

    photo-3.jpg
     
  9. KeepsWhatHappens

    KeepsWhatHappens Warriors Society Member

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    Trabuco Creek Road 12/27/2010 Asessment

    Took a ride up Trabuco Creek Road this morning to check on things and found the road mostly gone past the model airplane field. Ain't nobody driving to Holy Jim any time soon.


    [​IMG]


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    Phalanx of service vehicles wondering where to go.

    [​IMG]
    Just beyond the model airplane field the road ends.


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    The old mudpit all those wannabee 4x4ers play in is now a landslide.

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    Yes this is where the road used to be. No vehicular traffic had been past here.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]


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    Landslide before first creek crossing.

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    Looking upstream from first creek crossing is missing about 10-20 trees. Very open and airy now.

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    Saw four teens, each rolling a tire down the "road" about a mile downstream from here. That must have been tough going, rolling those tires across boulder fields. They somehow got their truck stranded in the storm up there ... or so they say.

    [​IMG]
    Third creek crossing is seriously messed up. Unless the Army Corps of Engineers gets involved no one is driving to Holy Jim any time soon.

    [​IMG]
    I think the bridge will be a total loss.


    [​IMG]


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    This is the "road" up from the Holy Jim parking lot after the first creek crossing. Road is gone.

    [​IMG]
    Farther up the road toward HJ start.

    [​IMG]
    Another downed tree. All homes in HJ appear to have survived.

    [​IMG]
    HJ Trailhead looks OK. Note huge falls on right in background.

    I ran out of time to go farther. I took me 1.5-2 hours to ride/HAB from VQ finish line to Holy Jim trailhead.
     
  10. eiphergott

    eiphergott New Member

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    I ran into the guys by the abandoned truck this morning, while they were taking the wheels off it. They said that they were the ones who were stranded last week and got airlifted out. Their truck had already been broken into, and two of their wallets were stolen.

    The road is in good shape from the HJ parking lot to the end, and Trabuco Trail is in good shape to the West Horsethief junction.
     
  11. maxwell

    maxwell Dirty Stinky PATH Love

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    We worked on clearing most of the trees on Maple Springs yesterday durring our Path Ride; The Path Sunday Saw...Lift...Push...Laugh..FUN Ride!

    This
    [​IMG]

    now looks like this...
    [​IMG]

    It still needs more work, but we can ride by now, insted of getting off to go around.
     
  12. Falconer

    Falconer Who are you? who who

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    Is this model airplane field on the lake Mathews side of the 15?
    Or is this on the Santiago Peak side of the freeway?
     
  13. genusmtbkr5

    genusmtbkr5 STR Moderator

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    ^^^^
    It's on Trabuco Creek Rd. Orange County Side.
     
  14. Bonsainut

    Bonsainut Was ich nicht weiß...

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    Quick beauty shot of the creek just past the model airplane field (as of this morning about 7:30 AM). I was hoping the water might have dropped a little. The first step is a big one! :) One of the Trabuco Canyon residents was walking down the "road" and had to wade through the creek. I picked him up and gave him a lift to the local store. He said he could not drive out with his truck and was getting hungry :) He also gave me some scoop on the road - apparently the residents have struck a deal with the county, and he believes that starting next September the county will start maintaining the road up to the National Forest...

    Note the new abandoned car in the wash... The resident I helped said there were several other cars abandoned up the wash as well.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. coolbreeze

    coolbreeze Looking for the gun show?

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  16. roach

    roach Full Singletrack Tuck

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    from the website: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/cleveland/conditions/ -

    Skyline -Open -TrabucoOrange Cty - Skyline to Skyline Truck Trail - Riverside County Road, access is controlled by a gate, call county at 951-955-1814 for access and a key.
    ???
    Anybody ever call to get "access and a key"? I was up there about 3weeks ago and there were two rangers hassling everybody attempting to shuttle through the gate. Seemed like a gross abuse of power :?:?
     
  17. denmother

    denmother Gone riding....

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    I have a key. It cost me $100 and I had to sign a contract. If I ever give the key back, I get my $$$ back. The deal is, if you have a key, you are responsible for shutting the gate after you open it. Many people just leave it open which is a no no.
     
  18. JoJon

    JoJon Member

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    Had a great climb up Maple Springs to Four Corners then up to Santiago Peak. Made a new friend along the way, made a great ride even better thanks for the company Steve. Never had to do a hike a bike, saw the work that Maxwell and his crew did and like MnMDan said it's rideable all the way to the top. The view was AWESOME!!!!

    [video=youtube;Z7sgBMwX4qc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7sgBMwX4qc[/video]
     
  19. ladera Dave

    ladera Dave New Member

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    It is time for trail work
     
  20. DieWespe

    DieWespe Well?...Are you?

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    Rode Maple Springs - Main Divide - Motorway today. Since Maple Springs has already been covered I'll just write about Main Divide and Motorway. Overall, Main Divide is in good condition between Four Corners and the top of Motorway. Motorway is rutted, especially on the loose shale portions of the trail. I'm always cautious on Motorway but even more so today. The landslide occurred in the same place but we were still able to pass. The big surprise was the washout of the trail approximately a 1/4 mile up from Maple Springs. This is the final right turn before heading down to MS. The pictures I took of the washout don't do it justice. The water flow from the canyon must have been unbelievable.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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